REUBEN
- Parents: Jacob and Leah
- Meaning of Name: “See, a Son”
- Mother’s Quote at Birth: “Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” – Leah (Gen. 29:32)
- Father’s Blessing: “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!” – Jacob (Gen. 49:3-4)
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Simeon
- Parents: Jacob and Leah
- Meaning of Name: “Heard”
- Mother’s Quote at Birth: “Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” – Leah (Gen. 29:33)
- Father’s Blessing: “Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.” – Jacob (Gen. 49:5-7)
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Levi
- Parents: Jacob and Leah
- Meaning of Name: “Attached”
- Mother’s Quote at Birth: “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” – Leah (Gen. 29:34)
- Father’s Blessing: “Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.” – Jacob (Gen. 49:5-7)
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JUDAH
- Parents: Jacob and Leah
- Meaning of Name: “Praise”
- Mother’s Quote at Birth: “This time I will praise the LORD.” – Leah (Gen. 29:35)
- Father’s Blessing: “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him;1 and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.” – Judah (Gen. 49:8-12)
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Dan
- Parents: Jacob and Bilhah (Rachel’s servant)
- Meaning of Name: “Judged”
- Mother’s Quote at Birth: “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” – Rachel (Gen. 30:6)
- Father’s Blessing: “Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that his rider falls backward. I wait for your salvation, O LORD.” – Jacob (Gen. 49:16-18)
Naphtali
- Parents: Jacob and Bilhah (Rachel’s servant)
- Meaning of Name: “Wrestling”
- Mother’s Quote at Birth: ““With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” – Rachel (Gen. 30:8)
- Father’s Blessing: “Naphtali is a doe let loose that bears beautiful fawns.” – Jacob (Gen. 49:21)
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gad
- Parents: Jacob and Zilpah (Leah’s servant)
- Meaning of Name: “Good fortune”
- Mother’s Quote at Birth: “Good fortune has come!” -Leah
- Father’s Blessing: “Raiders shall raid Gad, but he shall raid at their heels.” – Jacob (Gen. 49:19)
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asher
- Parents: Jacob and Leah
- Meaning of Name: “Happy”
- Mother’s Quote at Birth: “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” –Leah (Gen. 30:13)
- Father’s Blessing: “Asher’s food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal delicacies.” – Jacob (Gen. 49:20)
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Issachar
- Parents: Jacob and Leah
- Meaning of Name: “Wages” or “Hire”
- Mother’s Quote at Birth: “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” – Leah (Gen. 30:18)
- Father’s Blessing: “Issachar is a strong donkey, crouching between the sheepfolds. He saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was pleasant, so he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant at forced labor.” – Jacob (Gen. 49:14-15)
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zebulun
- Parents: Jacob and Leah
- Meaning of Name: “Honor”
- Joseph’s Mother’s Quote at Birth: “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” -Leah (Gen. 20:30)
- Father’s Blessing: “Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea; he shall become a haven for ships, and his border shall be at Sidon.” – Jacob (Gen. 49:13)
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ephraim
- Parents: Joseph and Asenath
- Grandparents: Jacob and Rachel
- Meaning of Name: N/A
- Mother’s Quote at Birth: N/A
- Grandfather’s Blessing:
- Genesis 48:14-22 Blessing: “And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). And he blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has oredeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let pmy name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” When Joseph saw that his father rlaid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, shis younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’” Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. Moreover, I have given to you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”
- Genesis 49:22-26 Blessing: “Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall. The archers cbitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely, yet his bow remained unmoved; his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (from there is fthe Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), by the God of your father who will help you, by ithe Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents, up to the bounties kof the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.”
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manasseh
- Parents: Joseph and Asenath
- Grandparents: Jacob and Rachel
- Meaning of Name: N/A
- Mother’s Quote at Birth: N/A
- Grandfather’s Blessing:
- Genesis 48:14-22 Blessing: “And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). And he blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has oredeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let pmy name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” When Joseph saw that his father rlaid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, shis younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’” Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. Moreover, I have given to you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”
- Genesis 49:22-26 Blessing: “Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall. The archers cbitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely, yet his bow remained unmoved; his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (from there is fthe Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), by the God of your father who will help you, by ithe Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents, up to the bounties kof the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.”
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benjamin
- Parents: Jacob and Rachel
- Meaning of Name:
- Ben-oni: “son of my sorrow” or “son of my strength”
- Benjamin: “son of the right hand”
- Mother’s Quote at Birth: “she called his name Ben-oni.” – Rachel (Gen. 35:18)
- Father’s Blessing: “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening ndividing the spoil.” – Jacob (Gen. 49:27)
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Wait – why are there 13 tribes and What happened to joseph?
Jacob had 12 sons and one daughter. The names of his sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. Jacob also claimed Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, as his own after he was re-united with Joseph in Egypt (Gen. 48:5). So, in the list of the tribes, Joseph has a double-portion that is divided between his two sons. That is why you see Ephraim and Manasseh’s names above, but Joseph is not directly listed.
So now, we are dealing with 13 names. If you have ever been to Sunday School, you know that is still one too many. Deuteronomy 10:8-9 explains why:
“At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD to stand before the LORD to minister to him and to bless in his name, to this day. Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God said to him.)”
Deuteronomy 10:8-9
Essentially, God set the Tribe of Levi apart for Himself. The Levites were the Priests in the nation of Israel and were not counted among the other Tribes. You can read more about the Tribe of Levi being set apart in Numbers 8:5-26. This is the Tribe that Moses, Aaron, and Miriam descended from.
But the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. For the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel.“
Numbers 1:47-49
CEnsus data
This data tracks the Census information from the time Israel came to Egypt, to the time Israel left Egypt, to the end of their 40-years in the wilderness.
| Tribe | Exodus 1 | Numbers 1:1-4 | Numbers 26:1-4 |
| Reuben | N/A | 46,500 | 43,730 |
| Simeon | N/A | 59,300 | 22,200 |
| Gad | N/A | 45,650 | 40,500 |
| Judah | N/A | 74,600 | 76,500 |
| Issachar | N/A | 54,400 | 64,300 |
| Zebulun | N/A | 57,400 | 60,500 |
| Ephraim | N/A | 40,500 | 32,500 |
| Manasseh | N/A | 32,200 | 52,700 |
| Benjamin | N/A | 35,400 | 45,600 |
| Dan | N/A | 62,700 | 64,400 |
| Asher | N/A | 41,500 | 53,400 |
| Naphtali | N/A | 53,400 | 45,400 |
| Levi | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| TOTAL | 70 | 603,550 | 601,730 |
Numbers 1:47-49
The Weaver's Threads 